bumpy
Americanadjective
-
bumpier,
comparative
-
bumpiest
superlative
-
of uneven surface; full of bumps.
a bumpy road.
-
full of jolts.
a bumpy ride.
-
causing jolts.
Bumpy air shook the airplane.
-
having many difficulties or failures; full of ups and downs.
He had a rather bumpy career before he settled down in his present job.
adjective
-
having an uneven surface
a bumpy road
-
full of jolts; rough
a bumpy flight
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of bumpy
Explanation
Bumpy means not smooth, as in covered in lumps and bumps, like a bumpy path that makes your car bounce, or a bumpy road to getting your parents to lend you the car. Anything covered in bumps is bumpy, whether it’s a road, the skin of a toad, or the surface of the birthday cake you made for your brother. It can also describe a ride full of unexpected jolts and bumps: "It was a bumpy journey along the mountain passes in her Jeep." Figuratively, bumpy can also describe a difficult process: "What a bumpy ride that was, getting my visa to travel to China!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Whether it gets there or not, the ride will likely be a bumpy one.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
After a bumpy drive into the woodland, Pete launches a thermal drone into the early morning sky.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
We’re in a bumpy transition from chatbots to active agents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
"The last 18 months were quite bumpy," Meier admits, as IQE struggled for relevance with investors.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
They drove around the edge of the village and back inland, down a lane that twisted between strangely bumpy fields.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
It’s time to prepare your retirement portfolio for a bumpier ride.
From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026
Wealthier shoppers also got a big boost from 2025’s roaring stock market, although trading has been bumpier so far in 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
Wall Street is inching toward a historic milestone just as the ride is getting bumpier in the stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 15, 2026
Mr. Ferris turned down a rutted dirt road, made even bumpier by the roots that crisscrossed it like the veins on an old man’s hands.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
This latest one, on the welfare state, comes after Sir Keir Starmer has endured his bumpiest days yet in Downing Street.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
Now, he couldn’t apologize enough for his latest misstep in what’s become the bumpiest jump to the NFL ever attempted by a college coaching great.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
Now, he couldn't apologize enough for his latest misstep in what's become the bumpiest jump to the NFL ever attempted by a college coaching great.
From Fox News ● Oct. 5, 2021
In short, despite the improving public health situation, some investors now expect the final three months of 2021 to be the bumpiest since the pandemic crashed the market in early 2020.
From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2021
It was like being on the bumpiest, scariest roller-coaster ride!
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
